Rubén Tomás Hechavarría Salvia, b. 1967 in Holguín, Cuba, lives and works in Bern/Switzerland.

He graduated from the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) in Havana with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting. For 34 years he lived and worked under the name SALVIA as a freelance artist, teacher and art curator in Holguín, the third largest city in Cuba. Since 2017 he has been living in Bern, Switzerland, where he established his studio. From 1993 until now, SALVIA has participated in 166 group exhibitions and 27 solo exhibitions inside and outside Cuba. His works are owned by private collectors in Cuba, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Germany, Spain and Switzerland.